How to Be a Morning Person.. and Love It!

There are two camps when it comes to the mornings. You either love it or you loathe it. If you are the latter, well, read on. Firstly, you should know that whether you love rising early or staying up late largely depends on your genes as well as your circadian rhythm. Morning people can easily wake up early in the morning to get started but for some of us night owls, it can be a real struggle every morning!

So if it depends on your genes, can you change how you are in the morning? Those who are die-hard night owls might find it difficult to change their natural schedule but with some tips, it won’t hurt to try and be that chirpy morning person! Here are some to check out.

#1 Ease in gradually
You don’t have to steam roll into your journey to early rising! Plunging straight to waking up at 6am every day when you’re more of an 8am person will make you want to give up halfway, especially when you’re super tired come Friday. Instead, make the switch to the early-bird life gradually. Experts suggest that you shift half an hour, continue for a few days, shift another half an hour and continue that for another few days until you get used to the routine of waking up early.

#2 Don’t hit snooze!
We are all guilty of it, even some of us early risers! But know this, when you hit the snooze button you might end up waking up feeling even more tired, making early mornings difficult. When you hit the snooze button, your body starts a new sleep cycle. But we sleep in 90-minute cycles so imagine hitting that snooze button in the midst of a cycle – you’ll feel completely disoriented.

Do this instead – use the popular five-second rule when you wake up. When your alarm goes off, countdown from five. Do some stretches or take in a few deep breaths while doing this. Then get out of bed and start your day. Try it!

#3 Give yourself something to look forward to
You want your early morning habit to be something you can sustain. For this to happen, you need to know the reason for wanting to wake up early. Do you want to enjoy the calm and quiet before the rest of the house wakes up? Perhaps you want to do more reading in the morning before diving into things. Maybe you want to meditate, have a nice cup of coffee without being interrupted, or eat a good breakfast instead of rushing to work. Your why should be your motivation to make this early-morning ritual stick.

#4 Have a consistent bedtime schedule
A good morning starts with a good night. Obviously going to bed like you used to at 1am isn’t going to help you become a morning person! Hopefully, as you wake up earlier and earlier, your body will signal you to sleep earlier than usual. With this, you can then work out a schedule that works. But make sure you stay as consistent as possible – even on the weekends. If your body signals sleep by 11pm, don’t turn on that Netflix documentary at 10:30pm only to binge watch through the night. Be disciplined about when to sleep to ensure that you feel well rested to wake up earlier in the morning.

#5 Sun’s out!
Is your room always dark? No wonder you love sleeping in! Let some light in, says experts. The early morning sun is a great way to regulate your internal clock, signaling your body that it’s time to wake up. Do this: Open your windows a little so that the morning sun has a chance to come in and wake you up naturally.

Photo by Emma Simpson on Unsplash.